On Saturday September 23rd, to celebrate the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, TheOneRing.net and fans of Tolkien gathered in Griffith Park for our annual picnic and celebration.

The weather could not have been better–blue skies and a fair breeze with enjoyable temperatures. There were plenty of trees to provide shade and a lovely backdrop. A potluck of great variety and creativeness was laid upon the table in the food tent as well as in several realms throughout the area.

Continue reading “A Long-awaited Party in Middle-earth”

Calling all Aussie and Kiwi Tolkien Fans, Hern Ennorath is once again challenging you to fire up your Middle-earth geekery and delve deep into your “great vats” of knowledge on all things Tolkien at their annual Middle-earth Quiz.

This enjoyable evening is coming to you on Thursday 28th September 2023, and is organised and co-ordinated by Quiz-Istari Ambra. The questions will range from “dreadfully easy” to those “a bit more difficult and more unpleasant”. Some of the questions you will answer without “putting on your thinking cap”, while others will have you yelling “Give me more time!”

The quiz format is “sacred and of immense antiquity” using the Kahoot app to receive and answer questions. It is suggested that anyone planning on attending make an account and have the Kahoot app on your phone or iPad. You can find the app at https://kahoot.it

Hern Ennorath Annual Middle-earth Quiz is on Thursday 28th September 2023.

Australian and New Zealand Times

7:30pm NSW, Qld, Vic, Tas, ACT
7:00pm SA, NT
5:30pm WA
9:30pm NZ

For Zoom details contact the Melbourne Tolkien Fellowship at melbournetolkienfellowship@yahoo.com

So come along and join in the fun, they look forward to your company on Thursday 28th September.

The awesome folks at Ravensburger Puzzles wanted us to let you know that right now, fans can snag two awesome puzzles, representing the first two films in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. These beautiful, 2000-piece puzzles are great pieces of art representing each film; The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers are available now at a variety of retailers.

The Return of the King puzzle is coming in 2023, so you won’t have long to wait to get that one as well. These puzzles would make great gifts for the Ringer in your life! We will also be giving you all a look at these puzzles in the future when we put together ours – so be on the lookout for that review.

Meanwhile, you can enter for a chance to win! One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive both of these first two puzzles in the trilogy. Simply complete this form to be in with a chance to win. The giveaway runs until 11.59pm PT on Wednesday 7th December, and winner will be contacted after that. Sorry, only open to fans in the United States.

Stansborough is a name which will be familiar to many fans of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth. Their amazing wool made those magical Elven cloaks, gifted to the Fellowship in the first Lord of the Rings movie. Spun through with silver thread, the Stansborough weave appeared again as Gandalf’s scarf in The Hobbit trilogy; and their fabrics have even been used recently in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power!

Tolkien lovers who have made pilgrimages to New Zealand may have visited their mill, to see their sustainable fabrics being created; and many of us have purchased items from them over the years. We’re delighted that this family run business is still going, still making magic – and they have generously sent us some goodies to giveaway!

Staffers Madeye Gamgee and greendragon had the pleasure of opening the exciting package which travelled across the ocean to arrive in the US; take a look to see what was in the box:

Your chance to win

If YOU would like to be in with a chance to be one of the lucky winners who will receive one of the goodies from Stansborough, all you need to do is complete and submit this form. The contest is open within the USA only (sorry, folks elsewhere in the world!); you have until 11.59pm PT Monday 28th November to enter. On Tuesday 29th we’ll pick three winners at random, and send each one of those lucky folks one of the three items.

If you’re not in the US, or if you aren’t a winner, you can still treat yourself to something wonderful from Stansborough; just visit their website to see all the goodies available. I’ve got my eye on one of their mini Gandalf hats (as seen above) – the perfect tree topper…! (Hmm, perhaps for a tree decorated with flaming pine cones…?)

Big thanks to our good friends at Stansborough for their generosity.

Complete this form to be in with a chance to win!

Big thanks to everyone who entered the contest run by our good friends at Oscha Slings, to come up with a new Middle-earth design! We hear there were many lovely entries, and it was very hard to make a choice; but we can now announce the winner. Here’s what the folks at Oscha tell us:

‘We’d like to thank everyone who entered the competition, it was wonderful to see the range of ideas and talents! The winner is *drumroll*….

‘Cari Johnston with her (yet unnamed) mirrored depiction of the journey to Lake-town and the Lonely Mountain, from The Hobbit. It’s such a clever design, with so many story-telling elements, that has been well executed to work as a baby sling.

‘We could see a lot of enthusiasm for designs that were already on our list, so hopefully you will eventually get something that you’ve been dreaming of, for instance horses, eagles, and  Gandalf! 

‘We hope you can agree that Cari is a worthy winner, and that you will look forward to seeing the design woven!’

Congratulations to Cari, and thanks to all who entered. Don’t forget to check out the many wonderful Middle-earth goodies (including face masks!) at Oscha Slings.

Calling all creative fans of Middle-earth! Our good friends at Oscha Slings, purveyors of items of great beauty, are holding a contest!

This is your chance to create a unique Lord of the Rings or Hobbit themed design to be woven into a scarf, shawl, baby sling or throw. Whatever realm of Middle-earth inspires you, now is your chance! The only limitation is that it must be book inspired rather than movie inspired. You have a month to create your design; then submit it via the google form below, by midnight BST on 26th July 2020.

To view the existing range and get inspiration visit Oscha Slings. Oscha are looking for a new pattern that they haven’t done before, and something that is clearly iconic of Middle-earth. They welcome entries that have a strong illustrative style, beautiful line work, and creativity! You’ll find more guidance about what makes a good design in the Terms and Conditions at the google form.

Be sure to read the guidelines and Terms and Conditions carefully on the form before submitting your entry! Click here to enter.

The folks at Oscha say they can’t wait to see what you come up with; and we look forward to seeing it, too! Get those pencils out and get doodling!